2026 Midwest Health Economics Conference
Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
| 6:00 pm | Welcome reception at Riggs Beer Company |
Thursday, September 24, 2026
Presentations in 3047 Wymer Hall (503 E. Gregory Drive)
| 8:30 am | Breakfast |
| 9:00 am | Preferences, Beliefs, and the Demand for the Flu Vaccine Daniel Sacks, University of Wisconsin–Madison Justin Sydnor, University of Wisconsin–Madison Discussant: Alden Cheng, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign |
| 9:45 am | Break |
| 10:00 am | Endogenous Screening and Health Behaviors Michael Darden, Johns Hopkins University Alex Hoagland, University of Toronto Discussant: Justin Sydnor, University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| 10:45 am | Break |
| 11:00 am | Dying Better: Hospice Care and the End of Life Yunan Ji, Georgetown University Edward Kong, Harvard University Maya Roy, Harvard University Discussant: Jason Fletcher, University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| 11:45 am | Lunch |
| 12:45 pm | Lightning Round Demographic Divergence: The Legacy of the Opioid Epidemic Carolina Arteaga, University of Toronto Victoria Barone, University of Notre Dame Stephen Claassen, University of Toronto Quality Labeling, Written Consent Requirements, and the Utilization of Scarce Organs Hannah Bae, Michigan State University Jeffrey Clemens, University of California, San Diego Agreeing to Disagree: Political Partisanship and Team Performance in Healthcare Haizhen Lin, Indiana University Yanhao Wang, University of Alberta Jia Xiang, Indiana University The Impact of Rural and Urban Hospital Closures on Hospital Care Elena Andreyeva, Texas A&M University Ben Klopack, Texas A&M University Benjamin Ukert, Texas A&M University Paula Zamora, Texas A&M University The (Going) Public Option: Equity Market Financing in the Hospital Industry Cyrus Aghamolla, Rice University Jash Jain, Indian School of Business Richard Thakor, University of Minnesota |
| 1:45 pm | Discussion Break |
| 2:15 pm | Health Care Reform and Firm Dynamics: Evidence from Medicare Part D and the Retail Pharmacy Industry Brandyn Churchill, American University Georgina Cisneros, American University Kelli Marquardt, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Discussant: Seth Freedman, Indiana University |
| 3:00 pm | Break |
| 3:15 pm | Bargaining Under Price Transparency: Evidence from Hospital-Insurer Negotiations Elena Prager, University of Rochester Maryam Saeedi, Carnegie Mellon University Robert Town, University of Texas at Austin Shruthi Venkatesh, Carnegie Mellon University Discussant: Riley League, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign |
| 4:00 pm | Break |
| 4:15 pm | Do Private Sector Fees Influence Medicare Fees? The Case of RBRVS Updates Gerard Wedig, University of Rochester Discussant: Maggie Shi, The University of Chicago |
| 5:00 pm | Adjourn |
| 6:00 pm | Dinner, 77 Club at Gies Memorial Stadium |
Friday, September 25, 2026
Presentations in 3047 Wymer Hall (503 E. Gregory Drive)
| 8:30 am | Breakfast |
| 9:00 am | Trading Goods for Lives: NAFTA’s Mortality Impacts and Implications Amy Finkelstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Matthew Notowidigdo, The University of Chicago Steven Shi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Discussant: William Evans, University of Notre Dame |
| 9:45 am | Break |
| 10:00 am | Winning the (H-1B) Lottery: Effects of High-Skilled Workers on Firm Production and Employment Jackson Alexander, University of Notre Dame Discussant: Yiqun Chen, University of Illinois Chicago |
| 10:45 am | Break |
| 11:00 am | Lead-Market Deregulation and Global Innovation Parker Rogers, Indiana University Fernando Stipanicic, University of Oslo Discussant: Jorge Lemus, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign |
| 11:45 am | Closing Lunch |
Department of Finance
340 Wohlers Hall, 1206 S. Sixth Street | Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 244-8172 | mdahl@illinois.edu